Woman in a man’s world
Keeley Davison proves you don’t have to be male to run a successful Snap-on franchise.
The sphere of four wheels, the motor car (whether it’s design, engineering and production, the motor racing arena, BBC’s Top Gear), has one particular thing in common – it’s male dominated.
Despite the inexorable encroachment since the 1960s into virtually all former male domains, one bastion still seems to be holding out against the ‘age of enlightenment’ - the world of the motor car.
Demographics
Just examine the demographics in the automotive aftermarket. Look at the guys selling the cars and, even more so, look at who works in the parts departments and who is servicing the cars - it’s 99 per cent men. Despite the Government’s and even the trade’s best efforts to widen the gene pool, it’s still a bloke who’s most likely to be fixing your car.
So imagine you’re a girl and you have an idea that you would like to infiltrate this Jeremy Clarkson, non-politically correct amphitheatre. It’s not exactly throwing a gladiator to the lions, but it’s not far off.
This is just what occurred to Keeley Davison when she was discussing with her partner Glen Reynolds just how employing third parties in his Snap-on Tools franchise was causing him too much stress in his life. Could she join Glen to help grow his franchise?
The Snap-on offering is van-based and franchisees call on all types of vehicle transport businesses - from small one-man garages to large manufacturers’ dealerships to transport fleets, plant hire companies, boat yards and many more. The premise is to call on the establishment weekly and, at the same time, meet the technicians who work on the vehicles, advising them on how to build up their toolkits and provide them with tooling solutions to make them as effective as possible.
These toolkits can be a source of massive pride to today’s technician and, in the age of the computerised car, the equipment used is getting increasingly complex.
Serious
So when Glen asked Keeley whether she was serious, she replied: “Why not, I’ve worked in male-dominated environments before?” She’d worked as a PA on the dealing floor of a German bank in the City and then progressed to a conference coordinator travelling the world. After a subsequent spell in nursing to be nearer home, she decided to give the Snap-on franchise a go.
So how has it been since she made the change in the middle of last year? It’s been a learning experience for her, especially on the product knowledge side, but then there’s always Glen at the other end of the phone if she can’t answer a customer’s question.
Has Keeley fitted into this male-dominated world? You bet. And she’s helped to grow the business’ customer base by nearly 40 per cent with no additional territory provided by Snap-on.
The clear message for Snap-on? You don’t have to be male to run a successful Snap-on franchise and you don’t need to have technical know-how of cars to get into the ranks of the top earners.
The clear message to all you women out there? If you’re looking for a challenging franchise, but one where you become highly valued by your customer base and at the same time have bags of fun and make money, then a Snap-on franchise could be for you.
It works for Keeley Davison. It can work for you, too.
Click the 'request information' button now for more information about Snap-on Tools
